Robert William Piercy

Robert William Piercy (Bob) passed away unexpectedly on Saturday July 26.

Bob was born October 19, 1949 in Coalville, Utah. He lived his childhood in the little white house on main street, right in the middle of town; the same house his mother had lived in all of her life. As a kid growing up in Coalville, he spent his time raising chickens, rabbits and sheep to take to the county fair and also to help support the family. He won many blue ribbons and even had the Grand Champion ewe one year! He also trapped muskrats along the Weber River and dried the pelts to sell. He was an excellent fisherman. He honed his fishing skills riding his bike up to Chalk Creek; skills he passed on to his oldest son who is also an excellent fisherman, and to his grandsons. At the age of 13 he began working in Adkin's mink ranch and worked there until he graduated from Coalville High School in 1967. Sometime during his senior year in high school he decided to go to Heber City to the Battle of the Bands. There he met his love, Verla Simmons. They were married in 1968 and remained married until his passing.

Bob got a job working in the Hecla hardrock silver mine in Park City, Utah and worked there until it was shut down in 1972. During this time he attended classes in Provo at the BYU technical school and earned an associates degree in electrical technology. Bob and Verla had 2 children during this time, Robbie and Kimberly. When the coal mine was shut down, they moved to Wyoming where he got a job at the FMC trona mine. They had 2 more children: Matthew and Melissa. He worked at FMC for 42 years as an electrician, and retired from there in 2014.

For almost 50 years Bob spent the majority of his leisure time in his garden. He was an avid gardener and spent countless hours working on the garden and on the lawn. It's hard to put into words the time and effort he put into learning how to grow a garden in the poor soil and climate of Southwest Wyoming. It was years and years of trial and error and experimentation. He eventually settled the majority of his time and space on pumpkins. His pumpkin patch was amazing and he grew pumpkins to give away to the children of his friends and co-workers for many years. He earned the nickname "Pumpkin Bob" and he loved it.

In addition to gardening he loved hunting and spent many years doing both with his friends and inlaws. He had to give up hunting after he

had a bad accident at home. He climbed up on the roof to clean the chimney, it was slick up there, he lost his footing and fell off the roof shattering both ankles and feet. He never fully recovered after that injury, and it turned out to be a real life changer because standing and walking for long periods became very painful. He replaced hunting with getting back into fishing and took many fishing trips with his grandsons. He had a lot of good memories of these trips and so do they. He also filled his time studying history. He loved history and we all wished he'd had the chance to be a history teacher. He knew endless information about all aspects of American history, but had favorite topics at different times which included the mountain men, Native American history, The Battle of the Little Big Horn, and anything about WWII.

Bob was preceded in death by his mother and father and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. He is survived by his Wife, Verla S. Piercy of Lyman, WY, son Robert L. (Britnie) Piercy of Urie, WY, daughter Kimberly (Doug) Williamson of Mountain View, WY, son Matthew (Ronda) Piercy of Cowley, WY, daughter Melissa Piercy of Lyman, 14 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Bob's wish was to be cremated. A celebration of life will be held on August 6 at the LDS church in Lyman, WY at 1:00 pm, with a receiving line from 12:00- 1:00 pm.